


Play Me Like a Violin

by Hikaru Yuy (SailorVFan10)



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Children of Characters, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Feels, Light Angst, M/M, OTP Feels, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Post-Canon, Post-Endless Waltz, Relena is a crusader for feminism, Slice of Life, Smut, Weddings, Work In Progress, fluff in general, some heavy topics, the boys are all at Preventers, there will be smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 01:44:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14739726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorVFan10/pseuds/Hikaru%20Yuy
Summary: Heero, Relena, and friends embark on a journey to discover what the hell normalcy is and how it changes everything on the road map from familiar, paved roads to unfamiliar trails that are overgrown and can barely be made out. Can they navigate these lines that lead to the unknown? Or will the struggle in finding their post-war selves and where they fit break them apart?A slice of life fic with some plot, some romance, some fluff, and some angst thrown in, where the five pilots, Relena, Dorothy, and others attempt to navigate life and piece together something "normal"--whatever that means to them.





	1. We were so bright standing in the sunlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SaraJaye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/gifts).



> I have so many feels for 1xR that I cannot contain them anymore, and this fic is the result of being unable to contain said feels. Especially after discussing different post-canon 1xR things at length on Discord and Plurk with Sara Jaye, I decided I couldn't keep this fic to myself anymore, it's gotta fly free. Have all of my feels, dammit!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We were so bright  
> Standing in the sunlight  
> Never got burnt, we were alright  
> Had that easy kind of love and I let it in
> 
> Relena has lunch with Dorothy, all the while waiting for her boyfriend to show up so she can introduce her best friend to the young man she's very, very fond of. Should she be nervous about this? Is she afraid that Dorothy won't like the one she's chosen? Is Relena just making a big deal out of nothing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary lyrics as well as the chapter title are from Illenium's "Crawl Outta Love", which I am...kind of really in love with. Especially the nightcore version.

_I hope he's not running late..._

Relena had no reason to be nervous. She wrinkled and unwrinkled the hem of her lilac coloured sundress probably a thousand times in the span of ten minutes, which to her felt like ten hours.

_I know Wednesdays are dicey for him, that all of his reports are due... What if he cancels on me?_

She fiddled with the straw of her iced tea and toyed with the ice cubes floating towards the top. She'd barely spoken a word or glanced at anyone except the waiter, and it was only to say, "I want my usual, please," after he'd seated her at her usual window seat where she always had lunch every Wednesday.

_He doesn't even have a car, what if the train is late? Did he even take the train over? What if the bus broke down?_

Her lunch companion sighed and Relena glanced over, stirring her iced tea with such vigour that the cubes were clinking rather loudly in her glass.

"Relena darling, if you don't calm yourself before he gets here, you're going to have no ice left to stir."

Relena let the straw drift to the bottom. "Sorry, Dorothy. I don't know why I'm so on edge today. It's not like this is my first date or something."

 _But it_ **_is_ ** _the first time I'm introducing him as my date, and I know that things weren't exactly the_ **_best_ ** _between you and him..._

Dorothy smirked as she closed her menu. "Is it because you're letting me meet with the boy you've had only two dates with?"

"It was only one date, really," Relena said, as she looked at the door. "The first date was technically that dinner to celebrate Ambassador Barton's inauguration, and that was strictly business. For the most part."

 _I'd spent most of the night in a sea of old men trying to congratulate Mariemaia on her accomplishments since he wasn't allowed to be_ **_that_ ** _close to me for most of the night._

"Oh?" Dorothy cocked an eyebrow. "I don't recall you bringing a date for that dinner, just an entourage of security."

Relena felt a pang of anxiety then. _Does Dorothy know? I mean, I suppose it's a little obvious..._

Dorothy smirked. "You're so sneaky, Relena." She placed the menu on top of her place setting before resting her elbow on the table, cheek against her knuckles.

"So, whilst we wait...Tell me about him."

The bit of anxiety quieted down, at least for now. _She doesn't know who it is then?_ Relena tried not to show how shocked she was at that revelation.

"What's there to tell? He's a boy, he has a stable career..." _He's smart, funny in his own way, has the most amazing blue eyes I've ever gazed into...._

Dorothy pouted. "Relena darling, you wouldn't date a boy who was so boring and plain that you couldn't talk about him. Is he handsome?"

Relena nodded. "I certainly think so."

Dorothy hid another smirk with the palm of her hand. "And that's not all that he's got going for him, I'm sure. Good looks and a career _do_ help, but you're not like that Carlton girl."

"I've been told I'm not like a lot of girls," Relena remarked as she went back to idly stirring her drink. "I think he likes that about me."

"And his education?"

"He goes to college at night, so the only time I really have with him is on the weekends, although we _do_ text back and forth and I _do_ see him for different business occasions..."

"It must be a good job if you constantly see him on your business outings." Dorothy straightened when she saw the waiter coming back. "He's not a political intern or something, is he? Or, heavens, a _politician's son_?"

Relena laughed. Her? On the arm of some politician's son? Most of the heirs of these political dynasties were old enough to be her father. The youngest one was only a few years older than Zechs, who was 23 years old.

"He's with Preventers," Relena said.

"Preventers?" Dorothy handed her menu over to the waiter before rattling off a very precise order. "And please make sure that you don't cook the meat _too_ rare, I'm not as bloodthirsty as the papers would have you believe."

 _I thought Une was the one the papers always called 'bloodthirsty'_ , Relena mused.

"Yes, ma'am!" the waiter said, before walking off. She watched him as she took a sip of her sparkling water.

"Did Zechs introduce you two?"

_If anything it was the other way around._

"Goodness, no." Relena started toying with the ice in her drink again. "I think if it were up to my brother, I wouldn't date until he was deceased. But he knows that since I'm eighteen, he can't tell me what to do. He doesn't ask questions."

Dorothy chuckled. "No one can tell you what to do anyway, Relena darling." She glanced at her phone and Relena did the same, because what if he was late?

_He still has ten minutes. I'm worrying over nothing again._

"What does he go to school for? Political science? Engineering? Hopefully not something _boring_ , like mathematics. A girl like you needs someone with _excitement_."

The waiter returned with Relena's lunch, which consisted of four chicken quesadillas and four chicken fajitas, with a side of fries and a salad. Her stomach growled in response to the smell as she thanked him.

"Depending on what someone's done in their life, perhaps 'boring' is just what they want," Relena said, before taking a bite of a quesadilla. _After all, he's had enough adventure to last at least three lifetimes._ "He's majoring in Literature, with a focus on creative writing, or so he told me."

Dorothy hummed a little as she stole one of Relena's fries. Relena didn't mind, she was too busy enjoying her quesadilla anyway.

"I never pictured you going for a writer type, but it suits you. There's a certain romanticism in it."

 _He's certainly romantic in his own way_.

The door to the diner jingled, interrupting Relena's thoughts. Looking up, she saw the uniform of a typical Preventers agent used to working on the field--a plain t-shirt with slacks, heavy boots, and the standard issue zip-up jacket many of them wore even outside of work. And Relena wasn't the only diner patron staring. Preventers agents weren't usually spotted here, there was a pub a lot closer to their building where the majority of them took their lunch.

But maybe that wasn't the only reason some of them were staring.

* * *

_Shit_.

Heero looked at his watch over the rims of his sunglasses and swore again, this time out loud. He had ten minutes to find this diner Relena had been raving about all week, and he needed to find it fast.

 _Typical of Zechs to hold me up on my way out the door_. It wasn't like Zechs knew he had a date to get to--Heero kept his personal life strictly personal, completely separate from his professional life. Zechs was a very busy man these days, and he had questions about Heero's report that would've been answered if he'd just _read the damn thing_. This was the third time in as many days that Zechs had done this, however, and Heero's patience with his supervisor was wearing thin. What was the point of a report if he wasn't going to read the damn thing?

People were starting to stare at him as he went past the same shopfront he'd seen the last two times he'd gone round the block. It was _supposed_ to be here, this _was_ Boulevard de Waterloo. There were ten different shops that boasted about their edible goods, and none of them were called _Vera's_.

 _I get why Duo takes his jacket and tie off when he leaves the building_. He stopped in front of an ice cream parlour to collect his thoughts and see if he could get a hold of Relena when a young woman bumped into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said in Dutch, though in his opinion she didn't sound very sorry. She gave him a once over and settled her gaze on the belt of his pants. "Is that gun real?"

Heero didn't stop thumbing through the map on his phone, though he did give her a sidelong glance as he answered, "Yeah." _What the hell would a fake gun do for me?_

"Maybe...Maybe you can use that on me sometime," she said, her voice lower, softer, before she giggled. Her friend with her giggled too before telling her to leave the poor tourist alone and pulling her along.

She wasn't his type anyway.

"Google, tell me where _Vera's_ is located."

His phone showed the loading icon before _Vera's_ popped up on it and a robotic voice responded, " _Vera's_ is located at One-Six-Seven Boulevard Anspach--"

 _Shit_. He had five minutes left, and Anspachlaan, which was what his phone's map referred to Boulevard Anspach as, was 20 minutes in the direction he'd originally come from, and he only had five to spare. Normally in a situation like this Heero would keep his cool, stoic demeanor and think something like, _A few blocks back the way I came? Ha. No problem_.

Today, the only thoughts occupying his mind were a whole bunch of swear words, many of which weren't even in English. Heero was _never late_. Not even fashionably so. He wasn't going to start being late now, especially not for something having to do with meeting one of Relena's 'dearest friends'. The friends who really hadn't accepted him in the first place and probably accepted him _less_ now that they were 'official'. Heero ran through the throngs of people like his life had depended on it, like a mobile suit was coming for him and he needed shelter and fast--

_Can we not think about something like that right now, brain? You're not in the war anymore._

_Vera's_ greeted him as soon as he rounded the corner of a street absolutely loaded with barrels of flowers. The building itself looked like a typical diner, although a bit smaller than average and was, funny enough, half a block away from McGinty's Pub and Restaurant. The same pub that Preventers loved to frequent.

 _How the hell did I not notice this before?_ he thought as he slipped through the door, the old fashioned bells above the entrance signalling his arrival to staff. The woman near the door was a sort of plumpish looking hostess whose entire upper half was obscured by the menus she clutched to her chest. She was chatting to a busboy when her eyes caught sight of him.

"Where can I seat you, handsome?" the diner hostess asked, presumably much louder than she had intended. Her response caught the attention of the rather busy dining area.

"I'm meeting someone here," he said, completely unsure if there were any reservations or if Relena had even told anyone he was coming. Out of habit, as he spoke, he looked for all the available exits and noted there was just the entrance.

 _Hopefully she's seated not far from the door in case we need to leave_.

"And who might you be expecting? Is she a regular?"

Heero had no idea what Relena was wearing to even describe her. For all he knew, she was incognito to avoid being recognised as the former Queen of the World.

"Heero!"

Heero and the hostess looked in the direction the voice came from. There, seated on the aisle side of a booth, was Relena. Across from her was someone with rather long blonde hair and a canary yellow top.

"Why didn't you say you were meeting with Lena?"

 _I didn't know you knew her name_.

She attempted to hand him a menu but he declined it. He wasn't here to eat--he didn't normally even take a lunch, he would just eat it at his desk so he could get ahead on his work for the day so he could leave early.

Heero approached the booth and sat down next to Relena, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. Heero could tell that Relena's lunch companion wasn't expecting to see him at all.

"I believe you two have met," Relena said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Dorothy took another sip of her water as her chance to decide what to say before settling on, "Yes, I believe we have." With a slight chuckle, she added, "From the way she had described her new beau, I couldn't have guessed it'd be you, Heero Yuy."

"Dorothy." Heero removed his shades and hung them on the collar of his shirt.

"You came directly from work, I see." Dorothy sounded amused. "Your lunch break, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah."

"As monosyllabic in your responses as ever, I see," Dorothy teased.

"We're going on our second date tonight," Relena said, as she pushed her tray of food so it was between her and Heero. He noticed she had eaten half of a quesadilla and a handful of fries. That wasn't a lot of food to go through in the amount of time she would've been waiting for, unless the food just arrived. Was she that nervous that she couldn't eat?

"Isn't it our third date?" Heero carefully appraised one of the fajitas. He didn't normally go for Mexican food.

"That inauguration dinner didn't count in my mind; you were there as my security detail. It was hardly what I would consider 'romantic'."

Heero shrugged as he started to eat some of the fries, the one component to Relena's lunch he was familiar with. These ones were crispier than he was used to.

"Some people find such things 'romantic', why else do you think the lady falling for her bodyguard is such a common trope in novels and movies?" Dorothy took another sip of her water, chuckling a little as she did. "Clearly there has to be some kind of allure."

Heero cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, I see Heero isn't the type for romance novels and movies."

"This lunch meeting," Heero said, changing the subject. "Dorothy and I already know each other, which is what I understood this 'meeting' to be about."

Dorothy delicately drummed her fingers on the table as her food arrived.

"We know _of_ each other," she corrected. "But the man known as Heero Yuy is still quite a mystery to me, even after all these years..." She sighed a little at the end.

"I'm not the type to lay all my cards on the table when I meet people," Heero retorted.

"My... It wouldn't hurt to show at least one or two cards to people."

Heero scoffed. "No thanks."

"Heero, Dorothy..." Relena interrupted. "I called you both here because I want Dorothy's blessing, to put it simply."

Dorothy looked under the bun of her cheeseburger to examine the meat. From the look on her face, she didn't seem terribly upset. From Heero's vantage point, it looked like the meat could still moo.

"What do you need my blessing for?" she asked as she assembled the rest of her burger. "I have as much say in who you date as Zechs does."

At the mention of Zechs, Heero tensed a little.

"I just don't want any awkwardness, that's all," Relena said softly. "You and I used to date. I don't want any resentment--I've heard that's a common thing when you keep your exes as friends."

Dorothy laughed. "Oh, Relena darling... What you and I had together during those few months was something that I will always cherish deep in my heart. But I knew that it wasn't meant to be from the start." She took a rather dainty bite from her burger, chewing it slowly before swallowing and dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. Relena wasn't sure why Dorothy treated every meal like it was some fine dining experience.

"As for holding any resentment towards the two of you..." She looked Heero up and down as he portioned out Relena's fries onto a napkin. "How could I? You're my dearest friend, Relena, it would absolutely _kill_ me to let a silly past romance get in the way of having any kind of future together." She reached across the table for Relena's hand. "Right, Heero?"

Heero nodded.

"See?" Dorothy smiled as she patted Relena's hand. "But if my blessing is something you want, something you _need_ , then you have it. I promised that I would always support you, and that won't change, not now, not ever." She gave a sidelong glance at Heero.

_Does she expect me to object to that?_

"And so you know, Heero... If you make my Relena darling cry, I will be very, _very_ displeased and cross with you."

Heero scoffed. "You wouldn't be the only one."

"If you think Zechs is the only one you have to worry about when it comes to you holding the key to Relena's heart, you'd better think again."

The rest of the lunch was silent, outside of Dorothy asking for tea and a slice of chocolate cake. Heero's phone went off, but he ignored it since it was only a text message. probably from Duo. Shortly after her 'dessert', Dorothy decided her time with the two of them was over and gathered her things to leave before thanking Relena for the 'little lunch date'.

"Will you be here next Wednesday?" Relena asked.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss our lunches for anything in the Earth Sphere," Dorothy replied with a bit too much gushing enthusiasm. She slid out of the booth and made for the door, but stopped about two tables away before turning around.

"Oh, Heero?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of my dear Relena for me." She smiled at Relena before heading out.

Heero let out a loud exhale, probably a bit _too_ loud, for Relena gave him a concerned look.

"I hope that wasn't too nerve-wracking for you," Relena said once Dorothy was out of sight, as Heero took two large gulps of Relena's iced tea, ignoring the straw that was placed in the glass.

"Or awkward," she added. He shook his head.

"Does Zechs know?"

"Not that I'm aware of." He leaned back in his seat. "He was suspicious about why I had to leave immediately for lunch since I don't normally leave for it, and tried to stall me by asking about the report I gave him yesterday that he apparently didn't read..."

"He'll find out eventually, I'm sure."

Heero scoffed. "I'm sure it'll go over great. His old enemy turned subordinate dating his sister." He placed his hand on top of hers. "I guess you could do worse."

Relena squeezed his hand. "Well there was this one boy at my school who fancied me, but I think he would've ended up giving me a very quiet, ordinary life." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"If it was before you met me, you would've been fine with that."

She shrugged against him. "I don't know. I never had to think about it--I ended up having anything _but_ a quiet, ordinary life."

More silence. Heero looked at his watch.

"Am I boring you?" Relena sounded genuinely concerned. He shook his head.

"Duty calls."

"When does it not?" Despite her attempt at levity, Heero could tell that Relena was disappointed at him having to leave.

"On my days off." _Sometimes_ , he added mentally, as he slid out of the booth and offered her his hand, which she took. Only Relena could make coming out of a hole-in-the-wall diner booth look graceful. She gathered up her bag and her leftovers before leaving her payment in the little book on the table along with a decent sized tip before they walked out together, hand in hand.

"I'll see you tonight?" she asked, as she turned towards him.

"At 1800 hours, yeah."

"And you know where the cinema is?"

"Programmed into my phone along with who manages the place, the phone number, and the floor plans so I know where all of the emergency exits and bathrooms are." Unlike today's diner finding fiasco, Heero was prepared for his movie date.

" _Heero_."

He gave her a small smile. "It was completely necessary," he replied to her unasked question.

"And then after, it's dinner at my place. Do you--"

"Yeah, I have my key, and I will remember to use it this time instead of going through the window, so Anya doesn't scream "cyka blyat" at me again." The first time he'd gone to Relena's new and very shiny apartment, he didn't have a key, so he had jimmied a window open and Relena's maid Anya just happened to be cleaning in that particular room. She was not amused in the least about this strange boy perched on the windowsill.

She smiled at him. "I'll see you then." She stood so she was half up on her tiptoes before kissing him on the cheek, and then walked to where she parked her car, which wasn't far from the diner. Heero watched as she got into her car, knowing that next on her schedule was an appointment at one of the local bridal boutiques--one of her friends was newly engaged and already picking out what dress to wear. As soon as she left his line of sight, Heero headed back to Preventers. On the way, he pulled out his phone and found a text message from Duo:

_dorothy texted evry1 sayin tht u n lena are dating n she 4got 2 leave zechs off the group chat. don't say anything about zechs' coffee stained shirt, he is NOT in a good mood_ _. don't even ask him questions_

Heero rolled his eyes. _Go figure_. That solved his problem of how to tell the former Lightning Baron that his ex-Gundam pilot subordinate was dating the one time Queen of the World.

 _Thanks for the heads up_ , Heero texted back. What could Zechs even do to him? Yell at him? Make his work life miserable? Why was Zechs even surprised?

* * *

The bridal boutique, which was named Laurel's Bridal Bits and Bobs, wasn't all that big. In fact, there wasn't a lot of room to sit and view dresses, due to how poofy the skirts were on the ones hanging from the racks and the amount of room they took up in the less-than-one-thousand-square-foot building. A song about needing to crawl out of love played softly from an overhead speaker, which Relena felt was an odd choice for a wedding shop; the air was heavily perfumed as it wafted in from the air vents. Her friends were crammed together on a rather olive green and orange upholstered couch. Dorothy was sat on the arm of it, looking rather displeased.

_I'm not sure if she's upset by how small the place is, how floral the air freshener is, or how hideous that couch is._

"Hello?"

Dorothy was the first to turn her head, and Relena could see the look of relief on her face.

"Malliessa went to go hunt for some dresses," Callia Neumann said from her perch on the armrest opposite Dorothy, her finger wrapped around a lock of curly blonde hair. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "We suspect it might take her a few days to make it back."

"I fear the Sea of Tulle has swallowed up your friend, Relena dear," Dorothy said. "She might be lost to us forever."

"Out of all the places to shop with a party of six, she came _here_ ," said Thalia Vogt, as she crossed one leg over the other. "Everyone knows this place is too small and way overpriced."

"Plus I hear that Laurel's kind of a bitch," Callia said, in a very obvious stage whisper.

"Was that Relena's voice I heard?" came a voice from behind several racks. Relena could barely hear her from her place in the Sea of Tulle, as Dorothy had called it.

Two dress racks parted and a girl in a rather ill-fitting bridal gown came charging out. It couldn't even fit over her ample hips--Malliessa Hirakawa was a girl one would refer to as 'thick bodied'. Relena didn't have time to see anything else before Malliessa threw her arms around her.

"I'm so glad you're here, Relena!" With her accent, it sounded more like 'Rayleenuh'. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

Relena smiled when they parted. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." _I even made sure to schedule everything around it, including my date._

Malliessa's smile could set the sun itself alight at that comment. "Sit! Sit! I have some dresses picked out already, I can't _wait_ to show them off!"

"Hopefully not the one that she's wearing," Thalia muttered, as Relena squeezed between her and Dorothy.

"So, Relena, how'd the lunch go?" Callia asked.

"Fine," she answered. _A bit awkward, but fine_ , she corrected in her mind.

"I wish _I_ could date a Preventers guy," Ronalda Carlton said, her voice and subsequent sigh both wistful. She sat on the edge of the small coffee table that was in the way otherwise.

"You can't even get a guy your parents pick out for you to date you," Malliessa said, as she emerged once more and posed in the mirror with her hair pulled back into some kind of bun shape.

"It's true!" Ronalda said, crying. "Mother says that I still have plenty of time, and there's no pressure to have an heir to the Carlton Estate since Carl is engaged to be married, but Father is concerned that if I don't find someone soon, then he'll have no choice but to throw a _debutante ball_."

"Maybe you should stop hanging out on Tumblr all day," Linnea Mortensen quipped from her place behind the couch, as she stared Ronalda down over her bright pink, oversized glasses. "Intelligent boys don't like girls who reblog fake news and articles toted as truthful that Snopes debunked ages ago, you know."

"Ladies." Dorothy pinched the bridge of her nose. "Most men don't care what you reblog or retweet. Besides, there's nothing glamourous in dating a Preventers agent, they're just like everyone else."

Malliessa laughed before twirling around. The dress she currently had on resembled an extremely overbaked cream puff, one that was ready to pop.

"Well of course there'd be nothing glamourous in it if it were _me_ ," Ronalda said, "but because it's our dearest friend Relena, it's the most glamourous thing this side of the Earth Sphere! Possibly all of the Earth Sphere!"

"I heard that when you go into Preventers, you're basically married to your job," said Thalia, before she took a sip from her styrofoam cup filled with checkmarks and the name 'Talaih'.

_This is going to be a long two hours._

* * *

Heero was back at headquarters finishing up reports on the latest system vulnerabilities that had been patched, when there was a knock on the wall of his cubicle. There was, at one point, a door one could knock on, because Heero was the Senior Security Analyst (or that's what it said on his name badge) and thus had certain privileges. Like having a door. Unfortunately, his partner at the time had decided that doors were too cumbersome when it came to coffee runs to and from the break room, so his partner had kicked it off the hinges. The door jamb still had bits of splintered wood composite sticking out, waiting to poke you if you stuck your hand or arm on the wrong place.

Heero had no idea how Duo was still employed.

"Enter."

"Heero." That smooth baritone could only belong to one person on the floor he worked on. Heero turned in his chair to see his supervisor staring at him. He didn't look too pleased.

"Zechs." Heero made it a point to ignore the rather large coffee stain marring the otherwise white dress shirt and instead stared at the clipboard in Zechs' hands.

"Do you have the patch live yet?" Zechs clicked on his retractable pen.

"Yeah. I'm working on the report for it right now."

"Good." The blond scribbled something on a sheet of paper with a lot of very crudely drawn, obviously-done-in-three-minutes-last-minute tables and charts. "I'll just need you to sign off--"

Heero folded his arms, his office chair creaking slightly as he leaned further back in it. "I doubt you came in here just for that."

Zechs raised an eyebrow. "Now, what would make you think--"

"If you won't acknowledge the elephant in the room, I will."

"Heero--"

"Relena and I are dating as of a few weeks ago."

Zechs' pen nearly flew out of his hand as he finished his signature.

"We had lunch together. Dorothy was there."

Zechs said nothing, just kept staring at his clipboard.

"You can't stop me from being with her."

Still nothing from Zechs.

_Say something, Merquise._

Zechs continued to say nothing for a long moment, opting instead to stare at the paper in front of him like his life depended on lighting it on fire before running a hand through his now short locks of hair. His eyes slid shut before he rested his forehead against the arm that now rested on the door jamb. He sighed.

"Zechs." Heero's tone made that name sound like a threat. _Don't make this awkward. Say something._ Heero's brow furrowed.

"Heero." Zechs folded his arms and squared up his shoulders, despite sounding like he was tired of dealing with someone's bullshit.

"Should I ring an ambulance for the heart attack you're in the middle of?"

 _I could take you, you know._ Heero pushed that thought away.

"I'm _not_ \--"

Heero gave him a look that said _I don't believe you_.

"Let me warn you--"

"If I hurt her or make her cry, you know where I live and will summarily try and punch me in the face," Heero interrupted. "Noted. Let me sign off on the patch and get this report done."

Zechs let out a little "hmph" sound. "I'd try more than that, Yuy. You'd be lucky if it was just a kiss with a fist."

"If you could even land a hit on me," Heero retorted from his seat. "Don't forget what happened on Libra." Heero didn't need to stand to be on Zechs' level.

"I remember exactly what happened that day."

"Then you'll remember I promised I'd protect her," Heero said. "I'd give my life for her, Zechs." He held out his hand for the clipboard. "Let me sign the paper."

Zechs' face seemed to soften at Heero mentioning his promise, even if it was only for a moment before he came back down to Earth. Handing the clipboard over, he watched Heero create a rather angular looking signature just underneath his before giving it back.

"I expect those reports in my inbox before you clock out for the day." Zechs turned to leave, and Heero couldn't resist a tiny jab.

"By the way, I know the name of a good dry cleaner who might be able to help with that shirt of yours."

Heero turned back to his work with a slight smile on his face, shaking his head a little as Zechs cursed all the way back to his office.

A mop of dirty blond hair peered over the cubicle wall to Heero's right.

"Jesus, what did you _do_?"

"I started dating his sister."

He winced.

"He'll bust my balls for a while, don't add to it, Trav."

Trav held up his hands defensively. "Hey, hey, no siree, I won't be."

Heero could hear the sound of an office chair rolling down the hall and knew who else would be chiming in.

"What'll Zechs say when you and Relena start fuckin'?"

Trav, from the sounds of it, nearly fell off the chair he was presumably standing on. Heero hit the keys on his keyboard a little harder than necessary as Works '98, Preventers' processor of choice after WordPerfect '97 stopped working on their machines for some reason, decided to not respond at that moment.

"I'm not in the mood for your shit today, Duo."

"Zechs said the same while you were on lunch, but I ain't tryin' to start shit," Duo said, his arms resting behind his head as he leaned too far back in his chair for anyone's comfort or sense of safety. "Just throwin' it out there. Who knew he'd be so protective?"

"Older brothers tend to be," Heero said matter-of-factly as he fought with Works.

"Is that what I'm gonna be like when Jolene gets married?" Trav wondered aloud.

"She gotta find someone first," Duo said, as he rolled away to escape being swatted at with a folded up manual. "Travvy, babe! It was a joke!"

"Joke on _this_ , Maxwell!"

All Heero could do was shake his head.

_Two more hours._


	2. maybe there is hunger in my blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe there is hunger in my blood  
> Screaming out loud for what I want  
> See me running full speed at it  
> Shattering, collide  
> Call me post-traumatic  
> Now it's do or die
> 
> There's a darker, less innocent side to even the most innocuous of dates, as Heero discovers on the way home from a showing of Origins of the Zodiac.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a looooot of fun writing this chapter. Thanks always to Sara Jaye for all the encouragement and idea bouncing when I needed a sounding board on where to go with things or how to word (or reword) something. The lyrics in the summary (and the chapter title) are from Illenium's "Fractures". I may have binge listened to all of their music during the process of writing, revising, and editing this fic. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_Looks like a storm might be rolling in._

The sun was still up, though it was just starting to make its descent below the horizon. Tonight it wasn't a particularly breathtaking display due to the clouds rolling in muting the otherwise spectacularly vibrant streaks of oranges, yellows, and reds that faded into pinks, tinging it instead all with greys and softer blues. Heero sat on the window ledge of his apartment, the hood of his zip-up covering his head and obscuring his face as a light rain sprinkled all over everything, cigarette between his lips, his eyes watching the traffic and people down below.

Up here, from the 20th floor, Heero had an unobstructed view of the city since his apartment was above the treeline--what was left of it. Often he would sit here after work and decompress when he didn't feel like going for a walk to clear his head. It had only been a few months since Heero was assigned to the Brussels building, and he was already bored of the sights and sounds of the now sprawling city. It all looked the same, all concrete and grey. The colonies had more green spaces than a lot of the cities on Earth did nowadays.

_Maybe I'll get reassigned to the colonies one of these days._ He pulled out his zippo, a gift from Duo two birthdays ago, and lit his cigarette before taking a long drag. _I think I have better chances of winning the lottery._

Voices filtered through an opened window belonging to the neighbours above him and Heero sighed. No doubt another argument over something stupid--last week it was over who forgot to flush the toilet. He heard a soft meow and a soft thud on the fire escape.

"You're tired of it too, huh?" he asked the cat, as it hopped onto his lap and purred. Heero wasn't sure if this cat was his upstairs neighbour's, or if it was a stray that liked to hang around. He never asked, no one ever offered, and anyway, it didn't concern him. "What are they yelling about today?" He scratched the cat behind the ears as he took another drag.

"Laurent said he saw you with some whore on Rue d'Aerschot last night! Admit it!" Articles of clothing came tumbling down the fire escape steps along with the yelling.

Heero took a long pull from his cigarette as he petted the cat's head, all the while various Dutch and French obscenities filled the air above him, interspersed with various personal items making their way down the fire escape.

_Just another night on Belliardstraat_. He looked at his watch. 17:30. Heero hopped out the window, the cat following him, before he closed it and walked down the emergency exit, his companion following him until about halfway down.

"Be good," he told the cat, who meowed in response before he continued on to the pavement. Relena didn't live _that_ far from him, but it was still about a half hour's worth of walking, and he didn't want to show up late. He had to admit, he'd been looking forward to this for over a week, and the week dragged on and on as a result. This was what normal eighteen year olds did, right? Slipping a pair of earbuds in, he scrolled through Spotify until he found a 'chill EDM/Dubstep' station and let it play.

_That's all I want, right? Normalcy?_

* * *

Relena sighed in relief as her front door clicked closed behind her. First order of business: get out of these shoes. She toed them off and picked them up so she could put them in her Donate bin in her bedroom.

_That's the last time I wear ill fitting flats_ , she thought, as she padded into her bedroom. She sat down on her hope chest at the foot of her bed as she eyed all of the clothes in her closet, all the while rubbing her feet. She didn't need to get _too_ dressed up for a film viewing, right? Maybe something a little flirty, but not _too_ flirty? A cute sweater, some jeans, and some cute heels? She could always wear a better fitting pair of flats, but her sore feet combined with Heero's growth spurt made her veto that idea. She did have some heeled sneakers that Callia had gifted her for her last birthday. Would those go with her jeans?

_Why am I even worrying about this?_ She sauntered over to her closet and began pulling out items from it. She had this soft faux angora fur sweater in a powdery blue colour her mother had given her for Christmas last year. She dug into the very back of her closet where her collection of denim resided, and pulled out a pair of jeans she was pretty sure still fit fine.

_It's_ **_Heero_ ** _, I don't think he cares what I'm wearing, I could wear a t-shirt and sweats and he'd think I looked fine._ She pulled on her jeans and noticed they were a little looser than she remembered them being; when she looked in her full length mirror, however, they looked the same as they always did. She smoothed her sweater over her waist and hips and did a half turn to see how she looked from the back. Nothing was out of place, thankfully. She had to do something with her hair, so she brushed through it, before pulling it up into a high ponytail. She picked out a pair of cream coloured heeled sandals and slipped them on. Her sore feet didn't protest since Relena practically slept in heels.

She heard a key slip into the lock of her front door as she was applying a little bit of makeup--nothing too heavy, just a light coverage BB cream, some blush, and lip gloss.

_I really should have the landlord see why the door lock is so noisy_.

"Relena?"

Her pulse quickened, she could feel it in her cheeks as she brushed a soft pink blush on the apples of her cheeks. _Maybe I don't need blush if the sound of his voice is enough to make my cheeks flush._

"Just a second!"

Relena inserted a pair of medium sized hoop earrings as the final touch to her ensemble before checking herself over one last time in the mirror. She grabbed her bag from her bed and stepped out of her room. Standing just inside the hallway was Heero, dressed in the white zip-up hoodie she'd love to have draped around her shoulders on a cold night, which was unzipped to reveal a tight black t-shirt with the words _Go harder. faster. longer. stronger_ emblazoned on the front of it in white. He had traded in his usual light wash jeans for a darker pair of skinny jeans that showed off his seemingly never ending legs, and rarely left the house without his Timberlands. Relena felt a little overdressed.

"Hi," she greeted, with a smile. "How do I look?"

He paused to give her a once over. "Blue certainly suits you."

Relena flushed a little.

"You ready?"

"I think so, let me just head to the bathroom real quick."

While Relena did whatever she needed to do in the bathroom, Heero walked into her living room right off the front door. Pictures lined the walls, mostly of her with family members. One of the bigger pictures was from when she was Noin's maid of honour at Zechs and Noin's wedding two years ago.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Relena practically glided over to the door before giving him another once over.

"What?"

She shook her head as she gave a little grin. "It's nice to see you in something that's not a uniform."

He opened the door for her, and made sure to shut and lock the door once they were both outside.

It was misting out a little, as the sky turned less lighter blues and purples and more dark greys and ultramarine. Marks left from the earlier rain dotted the pavement as Relena made her way down the front steps and stopped at the kerb. There was no car waiting for them, or really any cars parked at all in front of the garden-style apartments. Usually there would be fights over a parking spot at this time of day. Where was everyone?

"Where did you park?" She looked up and down the street. Maybe the Uber was late.

"I didn't--I walked here." He zipped up his hoodie. "Is that a problem?"

"No, but...you never got that issue with your license sorted?"

Heero shook his head. "I'd rather walk or take public transit anyway. You want me to dial an Uber?" He reached into his jeans pocket to pull out his phone, but Relena grabbed his arm.

"I don't mind walking, the cinema isn't that far anyway."

He held out his hand for her. "Shall we?"

Relena looked at it for a moment before taking it. His hand was surprisingly warm, and he didn't hold her hand too tight or too loose either. He gave her a small smile, which she returned with a grin.

_This is what normal couples do, right?_

"It's funny," Relena said, as they started their journey towards the movie theatre known as _Cinematique_. "I'd always thought you weren't the type for things like holding hands in public, you're always so serious." As if to make her point, she straightened her back and shoulders and narrowed her eyes.

"I'm so used to being a soldier, being a Preventers agent, constantly being on duty, that I don't know where the lines are drawn anymore. I'm used to calling you Vice Minister Darlian and introducing myself as Preventer Agent Yuy, as we enter some fancy, invitation only gala filled with diplomats from all over the Earth Sphere." He swung their hands a little as they walked. "But not tonight. Tonight you're Relena and I'm Heero, going to a local film place in Brussels no doubt filled with other couples who just wanna catch a movie." He chuckled a little. "Honestly, I prefer being your boyfriend over being your bodyguard."

Boyfriend. There it was, the word that she'd wanted to use for a while. She grinned even wider and leaned against him when they stopped for a red light.

"I like the sound of that," she said. _More than you'll ever know._

* * *

The movie theatre was nearly empty--clearly the 6:30pm showing wasn't a popular time for people to go to movie viewings on a Wednesday night. There were only two other couples there, and they were seated a lot further down. Heero had gotten them seated in the very top row, right in front of a wall and conveniently located right by the exit so they could leave quickly if such a need arose. He sat in the aisle seat as a 'precaution'.

"What could we possibly have to be cautious about, Heero? There's no one here." She gestured at the eighty or so empty seats to make her point.

_Potential assassins lurk everywhere, even in the most innocuous of places_ , Heero wanted to tell her, but instead he told her, "You never know. You have to prepare for every possibility."

"I thought you said you were off duty?" She attempted to throw popcorn at him, but she ended up missing. It instead bounced harmlessly down the aisle.

"I could be plainclothes. _They_ wouldn't know."

"Heero, please..."

"There isn't an on/off switch when it comes to making sure you're safe."

The theatre darkened, and Heero felt her relax in her seat.

"Please try to relax," he heard her plea. Once again, his hand was on hers.

"I'm relaxed. Promise." He kissed her hair just as the previews rolled.

"Boo!" Someone yelled. "Where's the movie?!"

"Someone else needs to relax," Relena muttered, as she arranged her things on her lap. The armrests were wide enough where they could actually share them, if they were so inclined to. There were even built in holders for popcorn and drinks, which made them easier to share, or knock over if one was particularly clumsy. Relena didn't bother with them.

"What is this movie about?" Heero asked as the previews continued.

"It's about a teenage girl who finds a talking cat named Kaden, who gives her a magical book that transports her to a different world. The cat is a human-cat hybrid in the world, and he's seeking the "origin of the zodiac". They have to find eleven others who correspond to the zodiac in order to summon a giant fish, who grants wishes and then tries to eat you, and if you're pure of heart, you'll survive, and unlock the secret to the origin of the zodiac."

"A giant fish," Heero deadpanned, as if that was the only weird thing about the movie.

"It had a 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and has A-list celebrities like E. Riki Gilchrist-Knight and Luke Izumi Curtiss as Leo and Libra, it can't be _that_ bad. You might even enjoy it." She leaned her head against his arm, even though the armrest was in her way and probably digging into her side.

"I'm Minna Kinotome," the movie began, showing a girl with long brown hair and eyes that one could describe as the colour of raw emerald if they were so inclined. She wore a typical Japanese school uniform. "I'm fifteen years old, love to eat, take care of cats, and play video games and shirk all of my responsibilities!" She winked at the audience. "Just your average teenager trying to make sure I don't flunk my high school entrance exams!"

"Same!" yelled the guy from before. "Fucking. Mood."

Relena leaned in close to Heero. "How long do you think it'll take before the movie ushers escort him out?" Relena whispered.

"Halfway."

Relena gave him a look that Heero could barely read in the glow of the movie screen.

"Depends on how observant the ushers are," Heero whispered. "Unless you want me to do something about him..."

" _Heero_."

"I'm sure I could weaponise popcorn."

"I'm always hanging out with my friends Miwako and Emiko, who I've known since childhood," Minna continued, as images of her two best friends flashed onto the screen, their names written below their respective picture.

"Ugh, the Childhood Friends cliche."

"Can you shut up?" yelled someone sitting directly behind him.

"How about _you_ shut the fuck up, Aras?! If you don't like it, leave."

Luckily for the both of them, the boy had calmed down and gone back to his running commentary, completely ignoring the protestations of his date and the girl named Aras.

About halfway through the movie, Heero shifted so his arm was around Relena's shoulders, which she seemed to welcome immensely as she moved as close to him as she could with an extra wide armrest between them. The couple sitting ten rows down from them were trying to make out without making too much of a disturbance, which Heero thought was a bit much considering there wasn't even anything remotely sexy on the screen--one of the characters, Mieuki aka Taurus, was in the process of dying, and Minna was sobbing hysterically in Kaden's arms. Someone two rows above the couple making out threw popcorn at them. Another sobbed just as much as the onscreen characters.

Thirty minutes later--which felt like an eternity to Heero--the credits began to roll, and Relena dabbed at her eyes with a napkin.

"What a great movie," Relena said, as the lights came back on. "Sure, the heroine had her moments of dumb decision making, but we all made stupid decisions at fifteen." She sniffled.

"I think the commentary improved the movie." Heero stood from his seat and checked his pockets--the first place he checked was for something tucked at the small of his back, under his hoodie. He heard Relena sigh.

_You can take the boy out of a soldier, but you can't take the soldier out of the boy._ Heero didn't even need to carry a gun to be dangerous to someone who wished to do Relena harm, but it gave him a sense of security to feel that familiar weight at the small of his back. His fingers curled around the grip and his index finger found the trigger guard; it was a welcoming handshake to him.

Relena stood and stretched before checking the time on her phone. The movie ran longer than either of them had anticipated. Heero heard her stomach growl.

_Guess all that popcorn and soda didn't do much_.

"Dinner at my place?" she asked.

"Sure." Heero stepped to the side so Relena could get out.

"How does takeout sound?" She slid her hand into his once more. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the hand holding. He laced his fingers with hers.

"Okay." He tossed out their trash on the way out of the theatre, sneaking glances around them as he led her past the line for the 20:30 showing of Origins of the Zodiac. Most of the people standing in line were female, and a lot of them were in cosplay.

The sky was a rich midnight blue now, the sun fully set. If Heero squinted hard enough, he could make out some stars. There was a breeze dancing around patrons leaving the theatre, bringing with it a chill that crept down the slightly unzipped neck of his hoodie. Next to him, Relena rubbed her arm in an attempt at gaining some kind of warmth. Heero stopped and unzipped his hoodie before shrugging it off and gently placing it around her shoulders.

"Heero..."

"You're cold," he said. "That sweater's not very warm, is it?"

"It doesn't help that I'm not really wearing anything underneath it..."

_That_ statement took all of the chill out of the October night and turned Relena's blush an even brighter pink as she slipped her arms into the sleeves and zipped the hoodie up.

"I mean I _am_ ," she said, fumbling a little over her words, looking everywhere but at him. "Just a camisole, that's all."

_That isn't helping either of us._

She stuffed her hands into the pockets as they resumed walking. His hoodie was big on her, but she didn't seem to mind it.

_Pull yourself together, Heero_ , he thought, mentally scolding his thoughts. It was completely normal to imagine the one you loved naked at some point--right? He was human, last he'd checked. He couldn't help it. It wasn't like he was _acting_ on any of his thoughts, and that's what counted, right?

"What is a camisole? A type of undershirt?"

"Essentially."

"And that's all that's under there?"

Heero saw a look of realisation creep up onto her face.

_Good job, you just made this more awkward._

* * *

Relena spread out her takeout menus like a magician spread out a deck of cards and rested them on her kitchen island.

"Pick a takeout place, any takeout place," she said. Between the menus and the mostly empty fridge, Heero surmised that she didn't cook very often, if at all. Heero chose one of the Asian takeout choices, the one whose menu boasted itself as 'the finest Asian cuisine outside of Asia!' and had a list of all the different Asian cultures it made food from.

"I haven't had that in a while," Relena said, as she kicked off her heels. "You figure out what you want while I change into something a little more comfortable."

_I can think of something more comfortable, but I don't think it'd be appropriate for our second official date_ , Heero thought, as he went through the menu choices.

Relena padded out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, where she quietly closed the door so she could change. She took off the hoodie that Heero had lent to her and draped it onto her bed before taking her sweater off and tossing it to the side. Did she really need to find another shirt? It wasn't like her camisole was all that revealing, despite her lack of a bra, mostly because the fabric wasn't at all flimsy.

_Is it wrong of me to want to dress in a way that flusters the hell out of him?_ She was certain that Ronalda would have something to say about it, probably passive-aggressively reblog a whole bunch of Tumblr Feminist posts, and then Malliessa would get into an argument with Ronalda via the ask box... She sighed as she held up a more form fitting top, examining how it would look on her in the mirror.

"I need to stop questioning myself," she told her reflection, as she tossed the top onto her bed. "If I want to dress for Heero, that's my choice."

She slipped off her jeans and changed into some cute shorts with a 'pre-rolled' waistband before slipping back into Heero's hoodie. She sniffed at the collar of it and smiled--it smelled just like his cologne, with a hint of mint and something else she couldn't place. To be covered in his scent, to be marked as 'his'... It sent tingles all along her skin. Pushing such tempting thoughts away, she headed for her bathroom to remove all of her makeup and let her hair down. She didn't know where the night would lead them--this was all unfamiliar territory to her, no doubt it was also to him. Wherever the night took them, the roads weren't on any map, so all she could do was hang on and hope they weren't steered into a dead end. Or worse.

* * *

Heero wandered out into the living room in search of more comfortable seating--the barstools looked nice, but they definitely weren't made for people to sit on. He stepped over a couple of Cosmo magazines left on the floor and, as he sat down on the tastefully upholstered couch, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out of his back pocket before settling on the velvety surface that was almost too soft to support him.

_Didn't think I was that heavy_ , he thought, shifting so he wasn't being eaten alive by a piece of furniture.

_how'd it go, man? u get lucky yet? lol jk. but no rly did u get lucky??_

Heero rolled his eyes at Duo's text before responding with, _It went okay, even though the people in the theatre couldn't shut up. All I've done with her so far is hold her hand and give her my hoodie to wear._

_thats how it starts, ro. first u give her a hoodie, next thing ur givin her ur d._ There were a bunch of eggplant emojis followed by eyes and an OK hand emoji.

_We'll see._

All over the coffee table were an assortment of novels, none of which had familiar titles. He expected some kind of classical literature, maybe some Jane Austen at the very least, or one of the Brontë sisters, but instead found novels with names such as _Her Man to Tame_ and _His Wild Irish Rose A-Yearns for Him_. Each one featured a cover with a Fabio lookalike holding some busty looking blonde.

_I have a feeling I don't want to know what these novels are about_. He could certainly take a guess.

Next to them were newspapers from a few weeks ago, more appealing-to-him magazines such as National Geographic and Time, and an agenda with tea stained pages. It was open to today's date, and circled in bright red ink was _DATE WITH HEERO_ in very neat all caps. Next to his name was a heart.

"Have you decided on what you're eating?"

Heero nearly jumped off the couch at Relena's unannounced reappearance. His startle reflex had always been a little on the sensitive side, but in recent years it got to the point where any sudden noise was enough to make his skeleton try and rip free from the fleshy meat sack he called his body.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Heero shook his head dismissively. "It's fine, I was just too lost in my own head for my own good." He glanced up at her and then away before doing a double take, his eyes roaming over her body. All she had on underneath his hoodie was a dark blue camisole--presumably the same one that was under her sweater--that was right on the line between modest and not, though it was still tasteful in his opinion; to complement her top, she had on what looked like black shorts that hugged all of her curves--curves he didn't know she even had, and were almost invisible under the sweat jacket. She was barefoot. The ambient temperature in the room felt about twenty degrees warmer, and Heero's mouth felt parched.

_When she said she was slipping into something more comfortable, I didn't expect this._ If he was honest, he didn't know what he expected her to come back out in, just that this wasn't anywhere near his expectations. Dressed down, okay, even Une dressed down on Casual Fridays, and that was _Une_. But this wasn't just dressed down. This was something a bit more...intimate. A side of Relena Darlian no one had seen before till now.

"Is everything alright, Heero?" The way she said that made his pulse quicken, like she planned this all along. "Your face is a little ruddy."

It took him clearing his throat for his voice to come out of hiding. "I don't think I've ever seen you this dressed down before." _You're almost in your underwear._

She sat down next to him in a less demure fashion than he was accustomed to, leaving just enough space for _maybe_ someone to sit between them, and said in a teasing half whisper, "Do you like what you see, Heero?"

Heero wanted to blurt out a _yes_ , but he managed to restrain himself, even though it was hard for him to with her not even a foot away. He could smell the tropical fruitiness of her shampoo mix with the scent of his cologne on his hoodie; his breaths came out as shuddery sighs.

"I do," he answered, as she leaned in closer.

"How far would you like me to go?" she murmured, toying with the hoodie's zipper, tugging it up and down the zipper teeth in small increments.

"As far as you want to." His voice was just above a whisper as he moved closer, his face close enough to feel her breath with every exhale. His heart pounded against his ribcage and he could feel this _heat_ between the two of them.

"That's a dangerous thing to say, Heero." He could practically feel her eyes search his as she reached for him. "I might end up going all the way."

He took hold of her wrist as she unzipped the hoodie more.

"Then we go together."

Before either of them could say another word, Relena closed the distance and crushed her lips to his, her hands palming his face as the weight of her body pushed him onto his back. He snaked one arm around her waist, the other finding its way up her back, fingers tangling in her loosened hair. His mind was a blank for once, completely devoid of anything as he breathed her name into her mouth. She straddled his lap, her fingers gripping his hair as she opened her mouth to him; he wasted no time in slipping his tongue in, drank in every sigh and moan she gave him.

She pulled away first, her breaths coming in short almost-gasps as she stared at him, eyes filled with surprise and also...fear?

"Relena?"

"I want you."

Those words sent a jolt through him, and he barely suppressed a moan when she bit her lip.

"I want you," she repeated, pleading now, "I've wanted you since I first met you." She was almost panting. She shifted on his lap and her eyes widened a little when he let out a little gasp, which she swallowed in another kiss.

Heero struggled to get his brain to work, to cut through the haze. There was a very important question he had to ask if they were going to continue.

"Do you have--"

"I'm on the Pill."

_That answers that_. He pulled her off of the couch before kissing her again, his hands undoing the zip on the hoodie that was already half falling off her shoulders. He tossed it on the couch before she tugged his shirt off.

"Heero..." Relena dropped his shirt to the floor, her eyes taking all of his chest and torso in. "You're beautiful."

She led him into her bedroom, closing the door behind them without making a sound. She laughed a little then, as she leaned against it.

"What?"

"Should we have dessert before we've even decided on dinner?"

Heero grasped her hands and pulled her into his arms.

"I don't see why not," he said against her mouth, before pulling her into another searing kiss.

There was definitely a hunger in his blood, and it wasn't crying out for food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally going to be much, much longer, but I had decided to split it into two chapters: this one and then the (new) chapter three, just so it didn't end up ridiculously long. I know some people don't mind long chapters, but I try to keep mine shorter than 10k words, and this would've...been above that, at least before the editing stage. But then I can be mean and leave everything on a cliffhanger, and the only one who knows what's in chapter three is Sara Jaye.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed it, please leave kudos and if you're so inclined, comments as well. I'd love to hear from my readers.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sat on this fic for a while now, writing and rewriting it. I'd started it before I moved house and worked on it on and off. I'm currently sitting on two other chapters and let me tell you, I had the most fun writing Dorothy. She's just so much fun and more people should write her.
> 
> I did include Real Life street names just to make it sound more like they were in Brussels, but I doubt that the streets represented in this fic align with their real life counterparts, though I did make sure that Preventers HQ wasn't on a street known for, say, brothels. I also modernised GW's setting a little (it's the future after all!) so that it's not completely 100% 1990s; Earth seems to be a bit...backwards/stuck in some kind of time loop compared to the colonies in the series, so I kind of only modernised things to a point for Earth settings. You might get flashes of the 90s.
> 
> I've grappled for a while with trying to figure out how to properly express the feeling that Dorothy gives "Relena-sama" in English without it sounding really formal (Miss Relena) or dumb, and the best I could come up with is "Relena darling" and "Relena dear", which is kind of cute and can be used platonically or non-platonically, so that's a bonus.


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